“...Her terrible eyes shining...” (Iliad I.200)
The above quote from the Iliad describes the frightening gaze of Greek goddess Pallas Athene. In his portrait of the goddess, Gustav Klimt made sure he would capture this intimidating aspect of his subject. Pallas Athene, the patron goddess of Athens, who with her gaze alone makes it clear that going against her wishes and attacking her city, is an exercise in futility. Her power shines through her eyes in Klimt’s depiction.
In Greek legend, Pallas Athene was the goddess of war and Wisdom. It was a contradictory portfolio that she kept together by being an almost androgynous character, acting like a man in a female body. Klimt’s depiction of Pallas Athene in turn features much less of the femme fatale attraction that his female subjects normally enjoy. This is not an obviously sexual being. It is however not devoid of sexual tension all together, as the sheer power ensuing from the goddess carries with it a sexual attraction of its own.
The painting features characters like Heracles and the Medusa in the background. However, their power and legend pale in comparison to that of the main subject, thus making it ever clearer that the true being of power in this painting is Pallas Athene. It also more subtly asks the question of who you should fear more, the monster or the goddess.
In all its detail, Klimt’s painting of Pallas Athene stays true to the Classical myth iconography of the classical era. Perhaps therefore it is also widely considered to be the outstanding image of this goddess since antiquity.
